Trees coated with ice rest on power lines in Franklin earlier this week. / SHAWN CORROW/for the FREE PRESS

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Free Press Staff Writer

Ice-related damage to power lines since Dec. 20 has prompted Vermont officials to ask for federal aid, according to Gov. Peter Shumlin’s office.

If approved, workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will join state and local officials early next month to assess costs of power restoration, debris removal and other storm-related damage.

Sub-freezing temperatures — and now, more snow — have frustrated attempts to reconnect Vermonters to the electric grid, Joe Flynn, who directs the Vermont Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, wrote to FEMA.

About 22,000 households — some 75,000 Vermonters — have been affected by ice-storm-related power outages, Flynn added, and ice- and snow-laden trees have added more Vermonters to the roster of those without electricity.

Late Thursday afternoon, more than 1,000 customers remained without power, Flynn wrote — most of them in Franklin, Lamoille and Chittenden counties.

The request to FEMA also includes the counties of Caledonia, Essex, Grand Isle and Orleans.

“This has been a real challenge for the utility crews because icy tree branches continue to fall and knock out power lines, making it difficult for the lines crews to keep the power on,” Shumlin said in a statement. “It has also been a struggle for many Vermonters in these hard-hit areas, particularly in Franklin County and other northern Vermont communities, who are spending this holiday week without heat and electricity, often staying with friends and family.”